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<h1>Particles Revolution</h1>

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<center><span class="summary">Outline</span></center>
<ol>
<li><a href="#part1">The last three particles (Not!)</a></li>
<li><a href="#part2">The Inclusive 「と」 particle</a></li>
<li><a href="#part3">The Vague Listing 「や」 and 「とか」 particles</a></li>
<li><a href="#part4">The 「の」 particle</a></li>
<li><a href="#part5">The 「の」 particle as explanation</a></li>
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<h2 id="part1">The last three particles (Not!)</h2>
We have already gone over very powerful constructs that can
express almost anything we want.  We will see the 「の」 particle will give us even more power by allowing us to define a generic, abstract
noun.  We will also learn how to modify nouns directly with nouns.  The three particles we will cover can group nouns together in different ways.
<p>This is the last lesson that will be specifically focused on particles but that does <i>not</i> mean that there are no more particles to learn.
We will learn many more particles along the way but they may not be labeled as such.  As long as you know what they mean and how to use them,
it is not too important to know whether they are particles or not.
</p>

<h2 id="part2">The Inclusive 「と」 particle</h2>
The 「と」 particle is similar to the 「も」 particle in that it contains a meaning of inclusion.  It can combine two or more nouns together to mean "and".
<p>（１）　<span title="スプーン - spoon" class="popup">スプーン</span><em>と</em><span title="フォーク - fork" class="popup">フォーク</span>で<span title="さかな - fish" class="popup">魚</span>を<span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べた</span>。- Ate fish by means of fork and spoon.
<br />（２）　<span title="ほん - book" class="popup">本</span><em>と</em><span title="ざっし - magazine" class="popup">雑誌</span><em>と</em><span title="はがき - postcard" class="popup">葉書</span>を<span title="かう - to buy" class="popup">買った</span>。- Bought book, magazine, and post card.
</p>

<p>Another similar use of the 「と」 particle is to show an action that was done together with someone or something else.
<br />（１）　<span title="ともだち - friend" class="popup">友達</span><em>と</em><span title="はなす - to talk" class="popup">話した</span>。- Talked with friend.
<br />（２）　<span title="せんせい - teacher" class="popup">先生</span><em>と</em><span title="あう - to meet" class="popup">会った</span>。 - Met with teacher.
</p>


<h2 id="part3">The Vague Listing 「や」 and 「とか」 particles</h2>
The 「や」 particle, just like the 「と」 particle, is used to list one or more nouns except that it is much more vague than the 「と」 particle.
It implies that there may be other things that are unlisted and that not all items in the list may apply.
In English, you might think of this as an "and/or, etc." type of listing.

<p>（１）　<span title="のみもの - beverage" class="popup">飲み物</span><em>や</em><span title="カップ - cup" class="popup">カップ</span><em>や</em><span title="ナプキン - napkin" class="popup">ナプキン</span>は、<span title="いる - to need" class="popup">いらない</span>？- You don't need (things like) drink, cup, or napkin, etc.?
<br />（２）　<span title="くつ - shoes" class="popup">靴</span><em>や</em><span title="シャツ - shirt" class="popup">シャツ</span>を<span title="かう - to buy" class="popup">買う</span>。- Buy (things like) shoes and shirt, etc...
</p>

<p>「とか」 also has the same meaning as 「や」 but is a slightly more colloquial expression.
<br />（１）　<span title="のみもの - beverage" class="popup">飲み物</span><em>とか</em><span title="カップ - cup" class="popup">カップ</span><em>とか</em><span title="ナプキン - napkin" class="popup">ナプキン</span>は、<span title="いる - to need" class="popup">いらない</span>？- You don't need (things like) drink, cup, or napkin, etc.?
<br />（２）　<span title="くつ - shoes" class="popup">靴</span><em>とか</em><span title="シャツ - shirt" class="popup">シャツ</span>を<span title="かう - to buy" class="popup">買う</span>。- Buy (things like) shoes and shirt, etc...
</p>

<h2 id="part4">The 「の」 particle</h2>
The 「の」 particle has many uses and it is a very powerful particle.  It is introduced here because like the 「と」 and 「や」 particle, it can be used to
connect one or more nouns.  Let's look at a few examples.
<p>（１）　ボブ<em>の</em><span title="ほん - book" class="popup">本</span>。- Book of Bob.
<br />（２）　<span title="ほん - book" class="popup">本</span><em>の</em>ボブ。- Bob of book.
<br />The first sentence essentially means, "Bob's book." (not a bible chapter).  The second sentence means, "Book's Bob" which is probably a
mistake.  I've translated （１） as "book of Bob" because the 「の」 particle doesn't always imply possession as the next example shows.
</p>

<p>（１）　ボブは、<span title="アメリカ - America" class="popup">アメリカ</span><em>の</em><span title="だいがく - college" class="popup">大学</span><em>の</em><span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span>だ。- Bob is student of college of America.
<br />In normal English, this would translate to, "Bob is a student of an American college." The order of modification is backwards so Bob is a student
of a college that is American.
「<span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span>の<span title="だいがく - college" class="popup">大学</span>の<span title="アメリカ - America" class="popup">アメリカ</span>」 means "America of college of student" which is probably an error and makes little sense.  (America of student's college?)
</p>

<p>The noun that is being modified can be omitted if the context clearly indicates what is being omitted.  The following highlighted redundant words
can be omitted.
<br />（１）　<span title="その - that" class="popup">その</span><span title="シャツ - shirt" class="popup">シャツ</span>は<span title="だれ - who" class="popup">誰</span>の<em><span title="シャツ - shirt" class="popup">シャツ</span></em>？- Whose shirt is that shirt?
<br />（２）　ボブの<em><span title="シャツ - shirt" class="popup">シャツ</span></em>だ。- It is shirt of Bob.
<br />to become:
<br />（１）　<span title="その - that" class="popup">その</span><span title="シャツ - shirt" class="popup">シャツ</span>は<span title="だれ - who" class="popup">誰</span><em>の</em>？- Whose shirt is that?
<br />（２）　ボブ<em>の</em>だ。- It is of Bob.
<br />（「<span title="その - that" class="popup">その</span>」 is an abbreviation of 「<span title="それ - that" class="popup">それ</span>+の」 so it directly modifies the noun because the 「の」 particle is intrinsically attached.  Other words include 「<span title="この - this" class="popup">この</span>」
from 「<span title="これ - this" class="popup">これ</span>の」 and 「<span title="あの - that (over there)" class="popup">あの</span>」 from 「<span title="あれ - that (over there)" class="popup">あれ</span>の」.）
</p>

<p>The 「の」 particle in this usage essentially replaces the noun and takes over the role as a noun itself.  We can essentially treat adjectives and verbs
just like nouns by adding the 「の」 particle to it.  The particle then becomes a generic noun, which we can treat just like a regular noun.
<br />（１）　<em><span title="しろい - white" class="popup">白い</span>の</em>は、<span title="かわいい - cute" class="popup">かわいい</span>。- Thing that is white is cute.
<br />（２）　<em><span title="じゅぎょう - class" class="popup">授業</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行く</span>の</em>を<span title="わすれる - to forget" class="popup">忘れた</span>。- Forgot the event of going to class.
</p>

<p>Now we can use the direct object, topic, and identifier particle with verbs and adjectives.  We don't necessarily have to use the 「の」 particle here.
We can use the noun 「<span title="もの - object" class="popup">物</span>」, which is a generic object or 「<span title="こと - event, matter" class="popup">こと</span>」 for a generic event.  For example, we can also say:
<br />（１）　<span title="しろい - white" class="popup">白い</span><em><span title="もの - object" class="popup">物</span></em>は、<span title="かわいい - cute" class="popup">かわいい</span>。- Thing that is white is cute.
<br />（２）　<span title="じゅぎょう - class" class="popup">授業</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行く</span><em><span title="こと - event, matter" class="popup">こと</span></em>を<span title="わすれる - to forget" class="popup">忘れた</span>。- Forgot the thing of going to class.
</p>

<p>However, the 「の」 particle is very useful in that you don't have to specify a particular noun.  In the next examples, the 「の」 particle is not replacing
any particular noun, it just allows us to modify verb and adjective clauses like noun clauses.  The subordinate clauses are highlighted.
<br />（１）　<em><span title="まいにち - every day" class="popup">毎日</span><span title="べんきょう - study" class="popup">勉強</span><span title="する - to do" class="popup">する</span></em>のは<span title="たいへん - tough, hard time" class="popup">大変</span>。 - The thing of studying every day is tough.
<br />（２）　<em><span title="まいにち - every day" class="popup">毎日</span><span title="おなじ - same" class="popup">同じ</span><span title="もの - object" class="popup">物</span>を<span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べる</span></em>のは、<span title="おもしろい - interesting" class="popup">面白くない</span>。- It's not interesting to eat same thing every day.
<br />You might have noticed that the word 「<span title="おなじ - same" class="popup">同じ</span>」 is directly modifying 「<span title="もの - object" class="popup">物</span>」 even though it obviously isn't an i-adjective.  I have no idea why this is
possible.  One explanation might be that it is actually an adverb, which we will soon learn doesn't require any particles.
</p>

<p>Otherwise, even when substituting 「の」 for a noun, you still need the 「な」 to modify the noun when a na-adjective is being used.
<br />（１）　<span title="しずか - quiet" class="popup">静か</span><em>な</em><span title="へや - room" class="popup">部屋</span>が、アリスの<span title="へや - room" class="popup">部屋</span>だ。- Quiet room is room of Alice.
<br /> becomes:
<br />（１）　<span title="しずか - quiet" class="popup">静か</span><em>な</em>のが、アリスの<span title="へや - room" class="popup">部屋</span>だ。- Quiet one is room of Alice.
</p>

<p>*Warning: This may make things seem like you can replace any arbitrary nouns with 「の」 but this is not so.  It is important to realize that the
sentence must be about the clause and not the noun that was replaced.  For example, in the last section we had the sentence, 「<span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span>じゃない<span title="ひと - person" class="popup">人</span>は、
<span title="がっこう - school" class="popup">学校</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行かない</span>」.  You may think that you can just replace 「<span title="ひと - person" class="popup">人</span>」 with 「の」 to produce 「<span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span>じゃない<em>の</em>は、<span title="がっこう - school" class="popup">学校</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行かない</span>」.  But in fact, this makes no
sense because the sentence is now about the clause "Is not student".  The sentence becomes, "The thing of not being student does not go to
school" which is complete gibberish because not being a student is a state and it doesn't make sense for a state to go anywhere much less school.
</p>

<h2 id="part5">The 「の」 particle as explanation</h2>
The 「の」 particle attached at the end of the last clause of a sentence can also convey an explanatory tone to your sentence.  For example,
if someone asked
you if you have time, you might respond, "The thing is I'm kind of busy right now."  The abstract generic noun of "the thing is..." can also be
expressed with the 「の」 particle.  This type of sentence has an embedded meaning that explains the reason(s) for something else.
<p>The sentence would be expressed like so:
<br />（１）　<span title="いま - now" class="popup">今</span>は<span title="いそがしい - busy" class="popup">忙しい</span><em>の</em>。- The thing is that (I'm) busy now.
</p>
<p>This sounds very soft and feminine.  In fact, adult males will almost always add a declarative 「だ」 unless they want to sound cute for some reason.
<br />（２）　<span title="いま - now" class="popup">今</span>は<span title="いそがしい - busy" class="popup">忙しい</span><em>のだ</em>。- The thing is that (I'm) busy now.
</p>

<p>However, since the declarative 「だ」 cannot be used in a question, the same 「の」 in questions do not carry a feminine tone at all and is used by
both males and females.
<br />（３）　<span title="いま - now" class="popup">今</span>は<span title="いそがしい - busy" class="popup">忙しい</span><em>の</em>？- Is it that (you) are busy now? (gender-neutral)
</p>

<p>To express state of being, when the 「の」 particle is used to convey this explanatory tone, <u>we need to add 「な」</u>
to distinguish it from the 「の」 particle that simply
means "of".
<br />（１）　ジムのだ。- It is of Jim. (It is Jim's.)
<br />（２）　ジム<em>な</em>のだ。- It is Jim (with explanatory tone).
<br />Besides this one case, everything else remains the same as before.
</p>

<p>In actuality, while this type of explanatory tone is used all the time, 「のだ」 is usually substituted by 「んだ」. This is probably due to the fact that
「んだ」 is easier to say than 「のだ」.  This grammar can have what seems like many different meaning because not only can it be used with all forms of
adjectives, nouns, and verbs it itself can <b>also</b> be conjugated just like the state of being. A conjugation chart will show you what this means.
</p>

<p>
There's really nothing new here. The first chart is just adding 「んだ」 (or 「なんだ」)
to a conjugated verb, noun, or adjective.  The second chart adds 「んだ」 (or 「なんだ」) to a non-conjugated verb, noun, adjective and then conjugates the
「だ」 part of 「んだ」 just like a regular state of being for nouns and na-adjectives. Just don't forget to attach the 「な」 for nouns as well as na-adjectives.
</p>

<p />
<center>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>「んだ」 attached to different conjugations <br />(You may substitute 「の」 or 「のだ」 for 「んだ」)</caption>
<tr align="center"><th></th><th>Noun/Na-Adj</th><th>Verb/I-Adj</th></tr>
<tr align="center"><th>Plain</th><td><span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span><em>なんだ</em></td><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲む</span><em>んだ</em></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><th>Negative</th><td><span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span>じゃない<em>んだ</em></td><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲まない</span><em>んだ</em></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><th>Past</th><td><span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span>だった<em>んだ</em></td><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲んだ</span><em>んだ</em></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><th>Past-Neg</th><td><span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span>じゃなかった<em>んだ</em></td><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲まなかった</span><em>んだ</em></td></tr>
</table>
</center>

<p />
<center>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>「んだ」 itself is conjugated <br />(You may substitute 「の」 for 「ん」 and 「の」 or 「のだ」 for 「んだ」)</caption>
<tr align="center"><th></th><th>Noun/Na-Adj</th><th>Verb/I-Adj</th></tr>
<tr align="center"><th>Plain</th><td><span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span><em>なんだ</em></td><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲む</span><em>んだ</em></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><th>Negative</td><td><span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span><em>なんじゃない</em></td><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲む</span><em>んじゃない</em></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><th>Past</th><td><span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span><em>なんだった</em></td><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲む</span><em>んだった</em></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><th>Past-Neg</th><td><span title="がくせい - student" class="popup">学生</span><em>なんじゃなかった</em></td><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲む</span><em>んじゃなかった</em></td></tr>
</table>
</center>

<p>I would say that the past and past-negative forms for noun/na-adjective in the second chart are almost never used (especially with 「の」) but
they are presented for completeness.
</p>

<p>The crucial difference between using the explanatory 「の」 and not using anything at all is that you are telling the listener, "Look, here's the reason"
 as opposed to simply imparting new information. For example, if someone asked you, "Are you busy now?" you can simply answer, 「<span title="いま - now" class="popup">今</span>は<span title="いそがしい - busy" class="popup">忙しい</span>」.
However, if someone asked you, "How come you can't talk to me?" since you obviously have some explaining to do, you would answer, 「<span title="いま - now" class="popup">今</span>は<span title="いそがしい - busy" class="popup">忙しい</span>の」 or 「<span title="いま - now" class="popup">今</span>は<span title="いそがしい - busy" class="popup">忙しい</span>んだ」.
This grammar is indispensable for seeking explanations in questions. For instance, if you want to ask, "Hey, isn't it late?" you can't just ask, 「<span title="おそい - late" class="popup">遅くない</span>？」 because that
means, "It's not late?" You need to indicate that you are seeking explanation in the form of 「<span title="おそい - late" class="popup">遅い</span>んじゃない？」.
</p>

<p>
Let's see some examples of the types of situations where this grammar is used. The examples will have literal
translation to make it easier to see how the meaning stays the same and carries over into what would be very different types of sentences in
normal English.  A more natural English translation is provided as well because the literal translations can get a bit convoluted.
</p>

<h3>Example 1</h3>
アリス：　<span title="どこ - where" class="popup">どこ</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行く</span><em>の</em>？- Where is it that (you) are going?
<br />ボブ：　<span title="じゅぎょう - class" class="popup">授業</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行く</span><em>んだ</em>。- It is that (I) go to class.
<br />Alice: Where are you going? (Seeking explanation)
<br />Bob: I'm going to class. (Explanatory)

<h3>Example 2</h3>
アリス：　<span title="いま - now" class="popup">今</span>、<span title="じゅぎょう - class" class="popup">授業</span>が<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span><em>んじゃない</em>？- Isn't it that there is class now?
<br />ボブ：　<span title="いま - now" class="popup">今</span>は、<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ない</span><em>んだ</em>。- Now it is that there is no class.
<br />Alice: Don't you have class now? (Expecting that there is class)
<br />Bob: No, there is no class now. (Explanatory)


<h3>Example 3</h3>
アリス：　<span title="いま - now" class="popup">今</span>、<span title="じゅぎょう - class" class="popup">授業</span>が<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ない</span><em>んじゃない</em>？- Isn't it that there isn't class now?
<br />ボブ：　<span title="ううん - no" class="popup">ううん</span>、<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span>。- No, there is.
<br />Alice: Don't you not have class now? (Expecting that there is no class)
<br />Bob: No, I do have class.


<h3>Example 4</h3>
アリス：　<span title="その - that" class="popup">その</span><span title="ひと - person" class="popup">人</span>が<span title="かう - to buy" class="popup">買う</span><em>んじゃなかったの</em>？- Wasn't it that that person was the one to buy?
<br />ボブ：　<span title="ううん - no" class="popup">ううん</span>、<span title="せんせい - teacher" class="popup">先生</span>が<span title="かう - to buy" class="popup">買う</span><em>んだ</em>。- No, it is that teacher is the one to buy.
<br />Alice: Wasn't that person going to buy? (Expecting that the person would buy)
<br />Bob: No, the teacher is going to. (Explanatory)

<h3>Example 5</h3>
アリス：　<span title="あさごはん - breakfast" class="popup">朝ご飯</span>を<span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べる</span><em>んじゃなかった</em>。 - It is that breakfast wasn't to eat.
<br />ボブ：　<span title="どうして - why" class="popup">どうして</span>？ - Why?
<br />Alice: Should not have eaten breakfast, you know. (Explaining that breakfast wasn't to be eaten)
<br />Bob: How come?

<p>Don't worry if you are thoroughly confused by now, we will see many more examples along the way.
Once you get the sense of how everything works, it's better to forget the English because the double and triple negatives can get quite confusing
such as Example 3.  However, in Japanese it is a perfectly normal expression, as you will begin to realize once you get accustomed to Japanese.
</p>

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<p class="copyright">Copyright &copy; 2003-2007 Tae Kim (taekim.japanese AT gmail.com)</p>
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<div class="small" style="text-align:right;"><pre>This page has last been revised on 2006/9/21
Removed unknown reference to 「そこ」 and 「あそこ」 (2005/6/1)
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